In my previous blog I recounted my adventures on the job front that partially led to my contracting a mental ailment. In all fairness I was not completely balanced to start with but that is another story. Link to my previous blog is below:
Here is another tip that may help you save your sanity. It is the concept of Fuck-you money.
I first came across this concept when I read Noble House by James Clavell. Clavell’s novels were a necessary part of my education when I was a youngster in my 20s. Anyone who wants to be in big business should read his books repeatedly in my opinion. It illustrates how people in business and politics think; it reveals their thought processes. If you want to survive in big business or politics, it may be necessary for you to think like that.
Clavell says that if you are a salaried person, you must first and foremost accumulate a large enough sum of money that will enable you to function in a detached way in your job. Maybe one or two years salary. That amount will act as a cushion and you will not be just over broke. You will still be able to pay your home loans and other debts and meet your living expenses in the short term even if you do not have a job. Knowing that will save you from desperation and you will be able to think clearly and in a detached manner.
The same concept is described by Rolf Dobelli in his self-help book, The Art of the Good Life. I have previously written a blog on one of the important lessons I learnt from Dobelli’s book. It is the concept of the Circle of Competence. Link to that blog is below:
I was looking for the relevant portion in Noble House so that I could quote it in my blog and illustrate my point. But I do not have the Kindle version of the book and the novel is well over a thousand pages. I do not want to read it again just for the sake of writing this blog. I could not do a search within the book without a Kindle copy of the book.
But I easily located the relevant portion in The Art of the Good Life. It is chapter 13, titled FUCK-YOU MONEY (Saving Up Freedom). Read the whole book but this is, I think, one of the more important lessons. In addition to discussing Fuck-you money it talks about what are the sane attitudes that we need to have about money that will enable us to have the good life. Quoting from the book:
Basically, fuck-you money refers to the savings that would allow you to quit your job at a moment’s notice without ending up in dire financial straits. One year’s salary, say. Fuck–you money is freedom. More important even than material independence is that fuck-you money allows you to see and think objectively.
Ideally I would like you to read Noble House as well. Fuck-you money is discussed in one of the earlier chapters so you will not need to read the whole book. But it will not do you any harm even if you do read it. This novel has been compared to Gone with the Wind by Los Angeles Times.
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